In the recent story there isn't a spell as fast as a gun and we have seen that some spell requires time to be cast, also the fact that you can make those effect go off as fast as a gun still have the problem that you have to make them go off and you don't have the time for that.
Frankly the Gatewatch including Liliana are rather terrible at spell castling. The older, non walker casters would run roughshod over them.
Casting spells is very much not at the speed of thought. Unleashing spells is at the speed of thought, but they have made it abundantly clear that mages have to prep spells which can take quite a while or be fairly fast and that things can be so hectic that it is difficult for a mage to prepare a spell.
They have also gone in Depth about how spell casting actually works and it is different for everyone, but well trained mages are 100% able to do it at the speed of thought, it is literally drawing mana from memories of places you have been and picking what spell you are using, and in a fight a mage is going to have that spell at the ready just like a gunslinger is going to have his hand on the trigger.
So there's some interesting things here. First, it looks like some of the people here might actually know about planeswalkers (some of the cards refer to a new planeswalker named Angrath). Secondly, I don't think Bolas sent Vraska to Ixalan to do some dirty work for him, River's Rebuke seems to suggest that he's trying to get rid of her (she followed the compass Bolas gave her...right into a trap).
Unfortunately we're missing Story Spotlight #1 for now. Vraska's Contempt is #2, and River's Rebuke is #3.
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Lapsed DCI Rules Advisor - Retired from playing but still hanging around
So there's some interesting things here. First, it looks like some of the people here might actually know about planeswalkers (some of the cards refer to a new planeswalker named Angrath). Secondly, I don't think Bolas sent Vraska to Ixalan to do some dirty work for him, River's Rebuke seems to suggest that he's trying to get rid of her (she followed the compass Bolas gave her...right into a trap).
Even more interesting tidbit about Angrath I think is that whoever he/she is cannot leave the plane, so are planeswalker stuck there, until they claim the city?
Vampires undergoing a blood fast, and so much more stuff
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.
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
Also seems Angrath is a pirate of some kind on Ixalan, since Angrath's Marauders calls him Captain Angrath. Well it looks like we got our fifth walker in this block (unless they don't have Ajani showing up), I'm guessing Rakdos.
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I am def hyped for this set: Dinos, Pirates, green Merfolk, white Vampire Conquistadors, and so much more. I am more excited for this than I was for Kaladesh and Amonkhet blocks combined.
Also, I am not usually a Green and Red player, but I will need to pick up a couple copies of the new Rootbound Crag just for that new art with a Dino in the distance.
Also the flavor text on the reprint hints that Ixalan doesn't have any dragons since the term dragon had to come from Angrath a planeswalker. Makes sense, this set wants to focus on the Dino's but it also looks like the rest of the iconic creatures are missing too. To be honest this is refreshing to me.
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I'm digging the look of the Ixalan merfolk. Looking forward to learn more about them. The mechanics article made them sound pretty straightforward, but that's only the gameplay perspective, of course.
So there's some interesting things here. First, it looks like some of the people here might actually know about planeswalkers (some of the cards refer to a new planeswalker named Angrath). Secondly, I don't think Bolas sent Vraska to Ixalan to do some dirty work for him, River's Rebuke seems to suggest that he's trying to get rid of her (she followed the compass Bolas gave her...right into a trap).
Unfortunately we're missing Story Spotlight #1 for now. Vraska's Contempt is #2, and River's Rebuke is #3.
I wouldn't say that the full flavor text of River's Rebuke is conclusive that Bolas is trying to be rid of her. Given the repeated mention of the search to find and control Orazca and the flavor texts about Angrath, I personally find it more likely that Bolas gave her the compass so that she could track down whatever is on the plane that keeps planeswalkers from leaving which just so happens to be in Orazca because plot.
Also seems Angrath is a pirate of some kind on Ixalan, since Angrath's Marauders calls him Captain Angrath. Well it looks like we got our fifth walker in this block (unless they don't have Ajani showing up), I'm guessing Rakdos.
He's a planeswalker from some other plane (one with dragons, that really narrows it down) who planeswalked to Ixalan and can't leave because Ixalan's special properties make it a planeswalker trap. Much like Vraska, he became a pirate captain and is presumably looking for the lost city. I'd bet that Orazca will be their way out of Ixalan.
It's refreshing to see a new planeswalker who isn't a native planeswalker. We haven't had one since... Kiora in Born of the Gods? Seriously? I really, really hope that he's something other than human, because I'm sick to death of human planeswalkers. An orc, maybe? A minotaur even? Anyway, for color identity he's definitely at least partially red, and I agree that black/red would make a lot of sense.
It's so cool how Vraska is serving as a trope herself. Pirates were notorious for having myths about them, including one that supposedly turned people to stone, or had a glass eye that would kill anyone who looked upon it, etc.
Star of Extinction intrigues me. While it is obviously a shout-out to the K-T Extinction Event, I'm curious as to whether it is something that will have plot significance in Rivals of Ixalan.
Particularly because Wizards doesn't seem to be able to help themselves when it comes to wanting apocalyptic events to hit their planes.
Just very excited so far.....so looking forward to the stories, getting the cards and possibly pay attention to art and flavor.
Dinosaurs is it baby!!!
The DFCs look very nice.
A little sad that predictability leads us Already to the probable end game.
The Vampires have been around for centuries
A Floating Pirate city called High and Dry
Colonies at Queens Bay
The Deadeye Fleet
The Fathom Fleet
A new planeswalker and pirate captain, Angrath who knows of dragons and is pissed he cant leave Ixalan
The Merfolk are the protectors of the golden city believing that intruders finding it may be the end of them and the world
There is a body of water called Shipwreck Sea
The Sun Empire with its capital Patchatupa where the emperor resides in a palace called Tocatli
Also seems Angrath is a pirate of some kind on Ixalan, since Angrath's Marauders calls him Captain Angrath. Well it looks like we got our fifth walker in this block (unless they don't have Ajani showing up), I'm guessing Rakdos.
He's a planeswalker from some other plane (one with dragons, that really narrows it down) who planeswalked to Ixalan and can't leave because Ixalan's special properties make it a planeswalker trap. Much like Vraska, he became a pirate captain and is presumably looking for the lost city. I'd bet that Orazca will be their way out of Ixalan.
It's refreshing to see a new planeswalker who isn't a native planeswalker. We haven't had one since... Kiora in Born of the Gods? Seriously? I really, really hope that he's something other than human, because I'm sick to death of human planeswalkers. An orc, maybe? A minotaur even? Anyway, for color identity he's definitely at least partially red, and I agree that black/red would make a lot of sense.
You forgot Kaya. And depending on how you look at it we also got Ob in BtZ.
Looking at color balance among planewalkers it works out very well if he BR (assuming we are getting aWG Ajani as well)
“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Angrath is an amalgam of Anger and Wrath. It's the kind of name someone who likes mayhem more than treasure would make up. Someone who would fit the BR slot remaining. Someone like... Tibalt.
I agree that it would be a nice change if Angrath weren't human. Also DINOSAUR HYPE. Little kid me would've lost it and adult me is still pretty stoked.
I really like the takes on vampires and merfolk in this plane.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Where did the idea come from that Ixalan traps planeswalkers? Just because of the flavor text on Angrath's Marauders?
The flavor text of Angrath's Marauders establishes that Angrath is unable to leave Ixalan.
In the story, 'In This Very Arena,' Ral Zarek relays to Jace that Project Lightning Bug (a planeswalker detector/tracker) had detected Vraska leaving Ravnica, but failed to detect a destination. Given Vraska's appearance in Ixalan, this would indicate that Ixalan possesses some trait that makes it undetectable to Project Lightning Bug.
Put two and two together, and it's a good possibility that Ixalan functions like a black hole for planeswalking, allowing planeswalkers and all the signals of their planeswalk in but preventing either from escaping once inside.
If Ixalan is a planeswalker "prison" of sorts, it means that it can potentially be useful to keep a planeswalker from traipsing across the multiverse, thus making them easier to monitor. I say this because it might not be entirely accidental that Jace ended up there. How Vraska ended up there remains to be seen, but Bolas giving her the compass can't be anything good.
I agree that Angrath might be Rakdos colors, and the whole thing about him taking out his frustration of being unable to leave on the plane is very reminiscent of Ob Nixilis's situation on Zendikar. Maybe Ixalan really is, in some ways, a soft reboot of Zendikar.
Orazca as a way out of Ixalan would be brilliant. Can you imagine if only ONE PW can escape from a secret tomb or something in Orazca (with Jace obviously making it after some close calls of course) only to leave Vraska and the others stranded?
I imagine more than one can leave from there, and Jace will find himself an unexpected ally in Vraska, who may assist him with his memories in the hopes of their alliance leading them out of the plane. Makes sense why she vanished after leaving Ravnica, and why it's dangerous hurling yourself into the multiverse as Kiora does.
Also the flavor text on the reprint hints that Ixalan doesn't have any dragons since the term dragon had to come from Angrath a planeswalker. Makes sense, this set wants to focus on the Dino's but it also looks like the rest of the iconic creatures are missing too. To be honest this is refreshing to me.
This whole idea of an iconic should be abolished. Just make flavor fits for planes and stop forcing this crap.
Also the flavor text on the reprint hints that Ixalan doesn't have any dragons since the term dragon had to come from Angrath a planeswalker. Makes sense, this set wants to focus on the Dino's but it also looks like the rest of the iconic creatures are missing too. To be honest this is refreshing to me.
This whole idea of an iconic should be abolished. Just make flavor fits for planes and stop forcing this crap.
I like them since they give magic its own identity and while I do like see how different worlds have different version of the same races or take elements from that plane, at points it gets forced. Personally Innistrad didn't need dragons it had the angels and demons already as a focus point and angels didn't fit on Kaladesh (it being a bottom up design lets me forgive it somewhat) or Amonkhet. Dinosaurs are the focus so hydras and dragons would fight for space, angels and sphinxes don't fit flavor-wise, thought I'd be okay with demons.
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“There are no weak Jews. I am descended from those who wrestle angels and kill giants. We were chosen by God. You were chosen by a pathetic little man who can't seem to grow a full mustache"
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Where did the idea come from that Ixalan traps planeswalkers? Just because of the flavor text on Angrath's Marauders?
The flavor text of Angrath's Marauders establishes that Angrath is unable to leave Ixalan.
In the story, 'In This Very Arena,' Ral Zarek relays to Jace that Project Lightning Bug (a planeswalker detector/tracker) had detected Vraska leaving Ravnica, but failed to detect a destination. Given Vraska's appearance in Ixalan, this would indicate that Ixalan possesses some trait that makes it undetectable to Project Lightning Bug.
Put two and two together, and it's a good possibility that Ixalan functions like a black hole for planeswalking, allowing planeswalkers and all the signals of their planeswalk in but preventing either from escaping once inside.
But at this point, there isn't anything official from Wizards on this point, correct? It's just conjecture among players?
I'm just curious because it seems like it's being discussed as though it's conclusively established already.
Frankly the Gatewatch including Liliana are rather terrible at spell castling. The older, non walker casters would run roughshod over them.
They have also gone in Depth about how spell casting actually works and it is different for everyone, but well trained mages are 100% able to do it at the speed of thought, it is literally drawing mana from memories of places you have been and picking what spell you are using, and in a fight a mage is going to have that spell at the ready just like a gunslinger is going to have his hand on the trigger.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
So there's some interesting things here. First, it looks like some of the people here might actually know about planeswalkers (some of the cards refer to a new planeswalker named Angrath). Secondly, I don't think Bolas sent Vraska to Ixalan to do some dirty work for him, River's Rebuke seems to suggest that he's trying to get rid of her (she followed the compass Bolas gave her...right into a trap).
Unfortunately we're missing Story Spotlight #1 for now. Vraska's Contempt is #2, and River's Rebuke is #3.
Even more interesting tidbit about Angrath I think is that whoever he/she is cannot leave the plane, so are planeswalker stuck there, until they claim the city?
Vampires undergoing a blood fast, and so much more stuff
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
Also, I am not usually a Green and Red player, but I will need to pick up a couple copies of the new Rootbound Crag just for that new art with a Dino in the distance.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
I wouldn't say that the full flavor text of River's Rebuke is conclusive that Bolas is trying to be rid of her. Given the repeated mention of the search to find and control Orazca and the flavor texts about Angrath, I personally find it more likely that Bolas gave her the compass so that she could track down whatever is on the plane that keeps planeswalkers from leaving which just so happens to be in Orazca because plot.
Since the fight and search for Orazca is apparently pretty constant (http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/behind-scenes-alleged-ixalan-card-theft-2017-08-28 ), the merfolk potentially just chose a spot to ambush the foreign invaders in their territory that acts as a bottleneck along the water route to Orazca as said invaders will have to travel through in their search
He's a planeswalker from some other plane (one with dragons, that really narrows it down) who planeswalked to Ixalan and can't leave because Ixalan's special properties make it a planeswalker trap. Much like Vraska, he became a pirate captain and is presumably looking for the lost city. I'd bet that Orazca will be their way out of Ixalan.
It's refreshing to see a new planeswalker who isn't a native planeswalker. We haven't had one since... Kiora in Born of the Gods? Seriously? I really, really hope that he's something other than human, because I'm sick to death of human planeswalkers. An orc, maybe? A minotaur even? Anyway, for color identity he's definitely at least partially red, and I agree that black/red would make a lot of sense.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
Particularly because Wizards doesn't seem to be able to help themselves when it comes to wanting apocalyptic events to hit their planes.
Dinosaurs is it baby!!!
The DFCs look very nice.
A little sad that predictability leads us Already to the probable end game.
The Vampires have been around for centuries
A Floating Pirate city called High and Dry
Colonies at Queens Bay
The Deadeye Fleet
The Fathom Fleet
A new planeswalker and pirate captain, Angrath who knows of dragons and is pissed he cant leave Ixalan
The Merfolk are the protectors of the golden city believing that intruders finding it may be the end of them and the world
There is a body of water called Shipwreck Sea
The Sun Empire with its capital Patchatupa where the emperor resides in a palace called Tocatli
You forgot Kaya. And depending on how you look at it we also got Ob in BtZ.
Looking at color balance among planewalkers it works out very well if he BR (assuming we are getting aWG Ajani as well)
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
I really like the takes on vampires and merfolk in this plane.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
The flavor text of Angrath's Marauders establishes that Angrath is unable to leave Ixalan.
In the story, 'In This Very Arena,' Ral Zarek relays to Jace that Project Lightning Bug (a planeswalker detector/tracker) had detected Vraska leaving Ravnica, but failed to detect a destination. Given Vraska's appearance in Ixalan, this would indicate that Ixalan possesses some trait that makes it undetectable to Project Lightning Bug.
Put two and two together, and it's a good possibility that Ixalan functions like a black hole for planeswalking, allowing planeswalkers and all the signals of their planeswalk in but preventing either from escaping once inside.
I agree that Angrath might be Rakdos colors, and the whole thing about him taking out his frustration of being unable to leave on the plane is very reminiscent of Ob Nixilis's situation on Zendikar. Maybe Ixalan really is, in some ways, a soft reboot of Zendikar.
I imagine more than one can leave from there, and Jace will find himself an unexpected ally in Vraska, who may assist him with his memories in the hopes of their alliance leading them out of the plane. Makes sense why she vanished after leaving Ravnica, and why it's dangerous hurling yourself into the multiverse as Kiora does.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
I like them since they give magic its own identity and while I do like see how different worlds have different version of the same races or take elements from that plane, at points it gets forced. Personally Innistrad didn't need dragons it had the angels and demons already as a focus point and angels didn't fit on Kaladesh (it being a bottom up design lets me forgive it somewhat) or Amonkhet. Dinosaurs are the focus so hydras and dragons would fight for space, angels and sphinxes don't fit flavor-wise, thought I'd be okay with demons.
"You can tell how dumb someone is by how they use Mary Sue"
But at this point, there isn't anything official from Wizards on this point, correct? It's just conjecture among players?
I'm just curious because it seems like it's being discussed as though it's conclusively established already.
Art is life itself.